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Daily iPhone App: Timeless is a colorful, multiple stopwatch and timer app for iOS
Timeless (US$0.99) for iOS is a heavy-duty timer and stopwatch app with some interesting features and a colorful, clean design (taking some inspiration from the upcoming release of iOS 7). Offering up to 10 simultaneous countdown timers / stopwatches, you'll have no problem keeping track of multiple, timed items to the second with Timeless. Timeless has a simple and stylish interface with a variety of colored themes that can be applied to each timer, so it's easy to keep track of and identify unique timers from a glance. Furthermore, with a double-tap, timers can be labelled as required, like "bread in oven" or "coffee break." To add a new timer, simply swipe to the left. To apply one of those unique colors, swipe up to reveal the theme settings menu and sample the styles until you find one you like and select it. If you can't find a color theme you like, there are additional theme packs available via in-app purchase ($0.99 - $2.99), which you can try before buying. Once you've selected your theme, swipe to the right to navigate back through your other timers. %Gallery-196040% Alongside a unique color theme and label, each timer can be assigned a custom notification tone. There are plenty to choose from (8-bit, done, echo bell, attention, etc.), and like the color themes, additional notification tone packs can be sampled and selected via in-app purchase, including zen, summer and digital. Tones and sounds in Timeless are intuitive and fun, making it easy to engage with and navigate the app from an auditory perspective. Timeless has a few additional and interesting features too. For instance, turn your iDevice clockwise to view all your timers in an easy-to-see list format. Tap and hold on a timer in the list to rearrange them in any order you see fit. Turn your iDevice counter-clockwise to get a large, clear view of a given timer. You can swipe through to other timers in this view, too. Start or stop a timer with a double-tap anywhere on the screen. If you're the kind of person who uses the Pomodoro Technique, saves water by timing your showers or uses a timer when hard-boiling eggs, for example, then Timeless, combining great design and functionality in a utility app, is well worth checking out. If you want to try Timeless before taking the $0.99 plunge, there's a free version of the app here, which has just two timers, color themes and notification tones. The free app can be upgraded to the paid app via in-app purchase at the same price.
TUAW's Daily Mac App: Time
Do you ever watch Star Trek and think, I wish my computer just had a little bit of the LCARS theme to it? You need Time. OK, it's not going to turn your Mac into a futuristic Star Trek-style computer, but Time authentically replicates the visual style and feel of the LCARS interface displaying a clock complete with a stopwatch, count down timer and an alarm. You can choose from 27 different color themes to suit your decor, have the app full screen or windowed and adjust the brightness of the app by dimming the entire interface -- handy if you're using it as a display at night. On the clock front you have the option of 12 or 24 hour display, the option to display the seconds as well as the day and date, which can be displayed as a star date. All the settings are accessible via large buttons that make up the interface, with each button click emitting a satisfying LCARS sound. Speaking of sounds you have the option of 15 alarm sounds from beeps and chirps to warnings and hailing frequencies, which can be used for both the alarm clock and the count down timer. If all the sounds get a little much for you, there's a button to mute the whole lot too. Time does what it says on the tin. It gives you a clock in the style of LCARS, and is great for any 24th century Star Trek fans out there. It's free and available from the Mac App Store.
Earbud / alarm clock takes the comfort out of sleeping
Love sleeping with earbuds in? Hate setting your smartphone in its alarm dock before you go to bed? The folks at Thanko have unveiled a little something called EARINALM which may be right up your alley. The premise is pretty straightforward: it's a set of earbuds that contains an alarm clock, stopwatch, and a calendar. The package includes a USB adapter of charging. Yours now for a mere ¥2,980, or roughly $35. The As Seen On TV infomercials practically write themselves.
A roundup of clock apps for the iPad
One of the more surprising app omissions from the iPad was the iPhone's Clock app. It's an extremely useful iPhone app, featuring a world clock, alarm, timer, and stopwatch. Why Apple didn't choose to add this app to the iPad is a mystery for the ages, but at least it's opened up the market for some incredible clock apps for the platform. Let's take a look at some of the better clock apps on the App Store: Night Stand HD (US$4.99, also available in free Lite version) -- This good looking universal app not only gives you a choice of clocks, but you also have a world clock, multiple alarms, and a stopwatch. You can also see limited weather information right on the clock face. Unfortunately, the current lack of background capabilities on the iPad means you'll have to keep this app running in order for those alarms to ring on time, but that will be resolved with iOS 4.2 in November. Clock Pro HD ($5.99) -- Obsessed with time? This might be the iPad app for you. It features an alarm clock in 18 different styles, iPod music alarms, an analog clock full screen support, a chess clock, a world clock, a stop watch with lap control, nature times (sunrise, sunset, midday, high and low tide) for any location, a sleep timer, an egg timer, a metronome, a countdown clock, and a project clock. Whew! As with Night Stand HD, the app must be open for alarms to work due to the background limitations of iOS 3.2 on the iPad. Read on for a look at more iPad clock apps.
TiVo earnings call reveals Comcast Tivo, Stop||Watch expansions on the way
Among the financial details (net loss of $4.1 million, yawn) of today's earnings call, TiVo had big news about its Comcast TiVo product, announcing that remote scheduling will be available this summer in the New England area, the planned Chicago launch is "close," that the cable company will soon offer customers in areas switching to all digital the option of a TiVo HD retail box instead of a digital terminal adapter and in one yet-to-be-named tru2way market, will make TiVo its primary DVR option. That's the word from CEO Tom Rogers, who also said Comcast is going to aggressively roll TiVo out, while its still looking for the "best path" of distribution. Non-Comcast interesting developments? The SeaChange partnership has lead to one independent cable operator, Comporium, offering its service, while the Stop||Watch ratings service is expanding to 300,000 subscribers, 75 times the size of Nielsen's DVR sample. Check the read link for the (.PDF) press release or listen in on TiVo's website for all the info, we're busy pondering a bleep & bloop enabled future for our boring old cable DVR boxes.Update: The transcript of the call is available on Seeking Alpha [Via Davis Freeberg]
Breakfast topic: Time is the fire
Somehow I missed the memo that Blizzard was changing the minimap to include an upfront clock, alarm, and stopwatch. It's a pretty neat idea. My favorite part is that you can switch the clock to read local time. This adds to time management tools located in the account setting to limit play time. As I've mentioned before, I live in Las Vegas. It's a strange place, with time dimensions similar to World of Warcraft. You have to look pretty hard to find a clock or a window in one of the casinos and the floors are like mazes that are designed to disorient you. Why? They want you to stay there and spend your money. As far as I know, WoW has always had a clock, but until yesterday, you had to hover your mouse over it to see the time. You can always look around the room. I don't know how many times I've checked the time and wondered where the time went. I found it nice tonight to have it right in front of me.
Guide to the new Time Management features
Are you the kind of player who loses track of time and ends up missing appointments or losing sleep because of it? Then we have good news for you. Among the UI changes included in Patch 2.4.3 are some Time Management features: Constant Time Display: You no longer have to pass your mouse over the sun or moon icon on your minimap to see the time. The server time is now automatically displayed at the bottom of the minimap. Alarm: An alarm can now be set, complete with a custom message. Computer Time Display: You now have the option of showing your local computer time rather than the server time on your minimap. Stopwatch: Accessed either in the new clock interface or by a keyboard command, there is now an in-game stopwatch for your timing needs. The details on how to use these features are after the jump.
Found Footage: iPhone Stopwatch 1,000 hour "memory loss"?
In this trivial video, someone shows what happens to the iPhone when the stopwatch has been running for over 1,000 hours. You may ask yourself, "Who runs their iPhone's stopwatch for over 41 days?" And we asked ourselves the same thing. But what happens is most definitely surprising -- and brings a whole new meaning to geek. [via Daring Fireball]
Not for carpal tunnel sufferers: Shooting Watch DS
Who knew that a simple concept like the Shooting Watch, a controller that measures how many times you can tap a button in 10 seconds, would go on to sell over a million units? This year marks the 20th anniversary of the yellow device's debut, and to celebrate, the Hudson Caravan has been touring Japan, selling limited edition merchandise and hosting button-tapping contests. Takahashi Meijin's 16 presses per second set the pace.Hudson manufactured a commemorative batch of 10,000 Shooting Watch systems earlier this year, but they were all sold almost immediately. Upset that he wasn't able to grab one, homebrew developer Retrohead created his own Shooting Watch game for the DS. Just like the real thing, it counts the number of times you can push the A button in ten seconds. If you're fast enough, the on-screen watermelon will explode!Shooting Watch DS has four other diversions -- clock, stop watch, three slots, and four slots -- all of which are significantly less fun than the titular mode. Keep your thumb rigid and tap past the post break for screenshots of the homebrew game. We've also embedded a video of Takahashi Meijin using his button-pressing skills to blow up watermelons!
Creative Zen Stone Plus lobbed at consumers
It was barely a month ago that Creative pelted the market with its Zen Stone, and now they're rolling out a re-upped and revamped version known as the Zen Stone Plus. While pretty much keeping the form factor the same, Creative has added a blue OLED screen, FM tuner, karaoke mode, and a stopwatch. The capacity has been increased to 2GB, doubling the original Stone's, but the color choices remain the same. Price and release date haven't been mentioned, but you'll know as soon as we do.Update: For what it's worth, Impress tells us that the 2GB Stone Plus will hit Japan Saturday for ¥9,800 which translates to a tax-inclusive price of about $79.[Via epiZENter]
TiVo's StopWatch to offer up precise viewer statistics
TiVo's transformation from a ad-skipper's best friend to an ad agency's biggest asset is nearly complete, as the firm's StopWatch system is aimed to provide "second-by-second" viewing data which Nielsen has refused to offer thus far. While the company went public about its intentions to become an ad-friendly platform awhile back, it looks like the time has come for its voyeuristic service to go live, as it begins marketing a system to carefully watch its 4.5 million or so customers whiz through commercials and schedule season recordings. This indeed marks the "first time a syndicated ratings service has detailed live and time-shifted viewing data on a second-by-second basis," which advertisers should absolutely drool over. Notably, Starcom has already signed on as TiVo's first taker, and with the amount of critical data now available to media agencies, we hardly believe it'll be the last. So the next time you crank up your TiVo and cruise on by every single costly commercial on your favorite recorded drama, take comfort in the fact that Big Brother is taking notes on a moment-by-moment basis.[Via PVRWire]
